Commentary for Yevamot 8:4

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, שָׁמַעְתִּי שֶׁהַסָּרִיס חוֹלֵץ, וְחוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ, וְהַסָּרִיס לֹא חוֹלֵץ וְלֹא חוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ, וְאֵין לִי לְפָרֵשׁ. אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אֲנִי אֲפָרֵשׁ. סְרִיס אָדָם חוֹלֵץ וְחוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהָיְתָה לוֹ שְׁעַת הַכֹּשֶׁר. סְרִיס חַמָּה לֹא חוֹלֵץ וְלֹא חוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא הָיְתָה לוֹ שְׁעַת הַכֹּשֶׁר. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר, לֹא כִי, אֶלָּא סְרִיס חַמָּה חוֹלֵץ, וְחוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁיֶּשׁ לוֹ רְפוּאָה. סְרִיס אָדָם לֹא חוֹלֵץ וְלֹא חוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ רְפוּאָה. הֵעִיד רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן בְּתֵירָא עַל בֶּן מְגוּסַת שֶׁהָיָה בִירוּשָׁלַיִם סְרִיס אָדָם, וְיִבְּמוּ אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ, לְקַיֵּם דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא:

R. Yehoshua said: I have heard that a saris (one who is impotent) gives chalitzah and that his wife receives chalitzah; and that a saris does not give chalitzah and his wife does not receive chalitzah [viz. (Deuteronomy 25:6): "…and his name will not be wiped out" — to exclude one whose name is already wiped out], and I cannot explain [with which saris chalitzah obtains and with which it does not.] R. Akiva said: I will explain it: Seris adam ("a man-caused saris") [who became a saris after he was born] gives chalitzah and his wife receives chalitzah because there was a time when he was kasher; a seris-chammah ("a sun-saris") does not give chalitzah and his wife does not receive chalitzah, for there was never a time when he was kasher. [("seris-chammah") from his mother's womb, never having seen the sun except when he was a saris. His signs: one who has no beard, whose hair is soft, whose skin is smooth, whose urine does not raise a vapor, whose urine-jet is not dome-like (i.e., it does not go far enough to form a dome), whose semen is thin, whose urine has no vinegar-like odor, whose skin does not give off a vapor when he bathes in the wintertime, and whose voice is not distinctly a man's voice.] R. Elazar says: Not so, but a seris-chammah gives chalitzah and his wife receives chalitzah, because he can be healed; a seris-adam does not give chalitzah and his wife does not receive chalitzah, because he cannot be healed. [The halachah is in accordance with R. Akiva, who says that a seris-adam gives chalitzah and his wife is subject to chalitzah and yibum; but he does not take a woman in yibum, for he is forbidden to enter the congregation.] R. Yehoshua b. Betheira testified about one Ben Megoset, a seris-adam in Jerusalem, whose wife was taken in yibum, in confirmation of the words of R. Akiva.

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